- Fans of Premiership teams will fork out £607 for petrol on average when driving to away games this season -

Fans driving to Premiership away games will pay MORE for petrol (£607) than their tickets, which will cost up to £570 over the season.

The average supporter will drive 5,762 miles if they attend all of their team’s away games – more than the distance from London to Shanghai (5,711 miles).

Fans will drive 304 miles on average per away game, costing them £32 in petrol.

Newcastle United fans will travel the furthest (8,968 miles) and spend the most on petrol (£945), but Arsenal supporters will pay the most for tickets and fuel over the entire season (£1,970).

This Friday marks the beginning of the new Premiership football season, which will see 20 teams once again battle it out for the top spot.

Loyal fans will face some lengthy car journeys to see their teams play – and fuel bills to match. However, they might be shocked to learn that they will have to spend more on fuel than the cost of their away tickets, on average, according to new research by Confused.com, the car savings site.

The research discovered each fan will spend a whopping £607(1) on petrol to travel to all of their team’s away games over the season. This fuel cost is even more expensive than the £570 they will have to spend on away tickets if they go to all 19 of their team’s Premiership matches, with each away game being capped at £30(2).

The staggering cost of a Premiership fan’s fuel bill is no doubt down to the distance they will need to travel to cheer on their team. Fans will drive 5,762 miles on average over the season to support their team at away matches. This is further than the distance from London to Shanghai (5,711 miles3) in one trip.

And, looking at cost per match, fans can expect to fork out around £32(1) for petrol as they will drive a 304 mile round-trip for an away game, on average.

But some supporters will need to travel further than others, and will therefore face even steeper fuel costs. Fans of newly-promoted Newcastle United will drive the most miles throughout the season to attend away games, with fans driving to away matches covering a total of 8,968 miles. This will bump up their fuel bill by £945(1), which is almost more than one and a half times the total cost of away-day tickets (£570)2.

Some fans will also be forking out extra money to follow their team throughout the season and purchasing a season ticket, which will give them access to all home games, and priority when buying tickets to away games. In fact, of all 20 teams, Arsenal fans will be paying the most for tickets this season when including the cost of season tickets, with the cheapest available costing a whopping £891(4). But they will have some small respite from sky-high prices by paying just £509(1) for their petrol bill in total. Even so, the combined cost (away game tickets, season ticket & petrol) of watching their team play is an eye-watering £1,970.

On the other hand, the biggest savers of the season are Stoke City supporters, spending only £1,362 on petrol, away game and season tickets.

Some teams will also have a lot further to travel to some games than others. In fact, the Magpies will face the longest drive of to go head-to-head with AFC Bournemouth. Those willing to commit to the trip down south, or for Bournemouth fans venturing up north, will need to drive a whopping 708 miles there and back, spending approximately £75(1) to fuel their journey. Newcastle and Swansea fans will also face a 706 mile and £74(1) journey to play away. However, Leicester City fans will be paying the least for petrol, with their total fuel bill over the course of the season costing just £476(1) as they travel just 4,515 miles across the season. Some teams are also fortunate enough to avoid long journeys when playing their local rivals, including Liverpool and Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City, and London teams. Supporters of these clubs can save themselves a few quid on fuel, given the shorter distance between each stadium.

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, says, “Being a football fan is a very expensive hobby, and it doesn’t just stop at the cost of the tickets. Supporters will have to pay £607 on petrol over the course of the season, on average, and that goes without factoring in the added cost of parking.

“However, there are ways fans can keep costs down as much as possible. It is worth benchmarking the average cost of petrol against the price of a designated coach to see which is cheaper, and there is always the option of car sharing with other supporters. Fans can also save money by finding the cheapest fuel stations in their area online using the Confused.com fuel price comparison service.”

-Ends-

Notes to editors

All mileage calculations are calculated using the shortest distance from stadium to stadium using Google Maps, unless otherwise stated.

Login

Verify your identity and download immediately.

1. Choose a social login method 2. Grant ISEBOX permission

Or login with your email address - we respect your privacy and will never post to your social profile unless you ask us to. For more information, please read our terms and conditions and privacy policy.